George Bush still has 667 days to live to become the first president to stay alive despite the Tecumseh curse.

The story of the so-called Tecumseh curse, although known in the world, is part of the American culture and is taught in schools in history classes. How else to explain the horrifying sequence of seven American presidents who did not live to see the end of their mandates in the strict periods of 20 years.

Death to the elected on zero year

According to folklore, the curse also known as the Tippecanoe Curse, the President Curse or the Curse of the Zero Year arose after the victory over American Indians in the battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. The famous Indian chief Tecumseh and his army was then defeated by the Americans led by General William Henry Harrison, a future presidential candidate. Tecumseh then cursed the American people. According to another version, his brother Tenskwatawa, also known as The Prophet, made the curse. Whoever passed the curse, it went like this: Harrison will die, I tell you. After his every big chief (meaning U.S. presidents) elected in the space of 20 years on the year ending with a zero will die during his term. And each time they die let them remember my people.....

The general who beat Tecumseh, William Henry Harrison, won in the presidential race in 1840, although the majority did not support him as a favourite. His opponent was the then vice-president for whom many believed would take over the presidential seat. The day when Harrison was giving his inauguration speech it was cold and windy. The speech lasted for an hour and 40 minutes and the new president got a cold. A month later he died of pneumonia. The people became panic-stricken.

To confirm that this was not a fluke, 20 years had to go by and the election for a new president. It was Abraham Lincoln, elected for the first time in 1860. At the beginning of his first mandate he was killed by southern sympathiser John Wilkes Booth.

James Garfield was elected in 1880 and lived through only four months of his term. He was shot dead by the mentally unstable Charles J. Guiteau.

William McKinley was elected in 1900 for his second term as president. After a year and a half he was killed by Leon F. Czolgosz who claimed to be the antichrist. He confessed to the murder, saying that McKinley was the “enemy of the people”.

After World War I the Americans were tired of Wilson and in 1920 elections voted for his total opposite, the decisive Warren G. Harding. He is considered one of the worst American presidents. During his tour Travels to Understand People of America he was struck by a heart attack in San Francisco. He died in his room at the Palace Hotel......

Bush is next?

But, has the curse been broken will be known on January 20, 2009 when president George W Bush, elected in 2000, should hand over his seat to another president. He survived the assassination in Georgia during his speech. Vladimir Arutinian threw a hand grenade at 20 metres, but because it was faulty, it did not explode. Doctors say that the president is of good health, so the chances of him dying from a health problem in the next two years are slim. But, even those who have never heard of the President’s Curse, are aware of the fact that the possibility of Bush being the target of assassination is rather high.